Melbourne Storm 15–18 New Zealand Warriors — Qualifying Final, 2008 NRL Finals Series
14 Sep 2008 · Olympic Park, Melbourne, VIC · Attendance: 15,193
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Qualifying Final, 2008 NRL finals series: Melbourne Storm 15–18 New Zealand Warriors, at Olympic Park, Melbourne, VIC on 14 Sep 2008.
Sourcing caveat: No try/goal minute timestamps were found for this fixture.
Scorers
| Melbourne Storm | Tries: Folau; Quinn Goals: Smith (3/4 conversions) Drop goals: Inglis |
| New Zealand Warriors | Tries: Ropati; Vatuvei; Witt Goals: Witt (3/4 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Melbourne Storm | New Zealand Warriors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Slater | Fullback | Lance Hohaia | 1 |
| 2 | Steve Turner | Wing | Aidan Kirk | 2 |
| 3 | Matt Geyer | Centre | Brent Tate | 3 |
| 4 | Israel Folau | Centre | Jerome Ropati | 4 |
| 5 | Anthony Quinn | Wing | Manu Vatuvei | 5 |
| 6 | Greg Inglis | Five-Eighth | Michael Witt | 6 |
| 7 | Cooper Cronk | Halfback | Nathan Fien | 7 |
| 8 | Jeff Lima | Prop | Ruben Wiki | 8 |
| 9 | Cameron Smith (c) | Hooker | Ian Henderson | 9 |
| 10 | Brett White | Prop | Steve Price (c) | 10 |
| 11 | Michael Crocker | Second Row | Simon Mannering | 11 |
| 12 | Ryan Hoffman | Second Row | Ben Matulino | 12 |
| 13 | Dallas Johnson | Lock | Micheal Luck | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Jeremy Smith | Grant Rovelli | 14 | |
| 15 | Adam Blair | Evarn Tuimavave | 15 | |
| 17 | Antonio Kaufusi | Sam Rapira | 16 | |
| 18 | Scott Anderson | Logan Swann | 17 | |
| Craig Bellamy | Coach | Ivan Cleary | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Jason Robinson |
Match report
The Warriors became the first 8th-placed team to beat the minor premiers in the McIntyre era. Locked at 8-8 at half-time, the match swung on a late Greg Inglis field goal that briefly put Melbourne ahead, before Michael Witt's boot and a Ropati/Vatuvei/Witt try haul got the Warriors home. The result meant Melbourne, despite losing, still advanced via the semi-final safety net built into the McIntyre system.